Lieberman maintains that everywhere in the world where there are two peoples with two religions a conflict exists and notes that in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the situation is worse as there is not only a religious conflict but also a nationalistic one. Therefore, the proposition is based on 'reduction of conflict' and maintains that the two peoples could live together but it would make no sense to have one living inside the other. On top of this, Lieberman maintains that it makes no sense to create a Palestinian state that has no Jewish people while Israel is turned into a dual-population state with more than 20% of minorities.[1]

In general, Arab Israelis are opposed to the plan and many believe it constitutes racism.[2][3][4] The Israeli left opposes the plan. Legal experts have cast doubt on the legality of such a move under Israeli and international law.

The Lieberman Plan suggests a territorial exchange whereby Israel would annex almost all Israeli settlements in the West Bank which are situated in major settlement blocs close to the border, and withdraw from the remaining few deep inside the Palestinian territories. At the same time, it would transfer Arab-Israeli areas to the Palestinian state.[1] While there are three major Arab regions in Israel, all contiguous with the West Bank (southern and central Galilee, the central region known as "the Triangle", and the Bedouin region in the northern part of the Negev desert), the Lieberman Plan only advocates ceding the Triangle.[citation needed] All Arab residents of the Triangle would lose their Israeli citizenship. The Druze community, whose leaders are mainly pro-Israel, would remain part of Israel. All remaining citizens, whether Jews or Arabs would have to pledge an oath of allegiance to the state in order to keep their Israeli citizenship.[5]

The plan would reduce both the Arab population of Israel and the Jewish population of the West Bank, creating more ethnically homogeneous states without anyone moving.[6] Various estimates as to the number of Arab-Israelis affected by the plan vary from a high of 90% of current Arab Israelis in Lieberman's own estimate to as little as 11.8% of Arab citizens being affected (2.3% of Israel's population overall) according to a study by the Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies.[6]

Lieberman's main argument for the plan is that it is not a population transfer, since the plan does not call for any forcible removal of anyone from their home. The plan, instead, simply redraws the border between Palestinian and Israeli communities to make them more homogeneous (i.e., nearby Arab communities are redrawn to be included in the Palestinian Territory, while nearby Jewish territories are redrawn to be included in Israel).

In an open Q&A with Haaretz, Lieberman noted that it is of great importance to have a partner in the Arab side and stated that he communicated his plan to the Palestinians and the Arab states prior to making it public in Israel. Lieberman stated his belief that the Arab world understands that his plan would be in the benefit of the region and cited that there were no denunciations from either the Palestinians or the Arab world to this plan.[1]

The deputy leader of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, Sheikh Kamel Khatib, said of the Lieberman plan that the only acceptable population exchange for him would be for the Russian-born Lieberman to: "return to his country while refugees in Syria and Lebanon return to their homeland".[8]

According to Waters, "objections about feasibility ... are really not based on a belief that transfer is impossible, but a conviction that it is undesirable".[6]

The Plan conforms with generalized support both inside and outside of Israel for a two-state solution. Supporters within Israel seek a state that is both democratic and Jewish, the Lieberman Plan would achieve this goal. For those that believe that the ideal solution to the Israel-Arab conflict would be greater separation between Jews and Arabs, this plan would certainly achieve such a goal.[9] The Plan also minimizes the population of the minority in each state, which can be viewed (in the case of either minority) as "untrustworthy, unwanted, destabilizing, disruptive or simply different".[10] Demographically the plan creates two States which are more ethnically homogeneous, and likely would achieve the political goals of both the Palestinian and Israeli leadership. In sum, according to Waters: "It is entirely plausible that the Plan could contribute to peace, if peace could be achieved through a greater separation of Jews and Palestinians. That is, after all, the assumption underlying all two-state solutions."[11]

However, most assumptions about feasibility, including Waters', assume that the Plan would result from a multi-lateral agreement. At the present, there does not seem to be support for it from a willing Palestinian partner, thus decreasing the likelihood that it would be successful in achieving peace.

Several issues of legality arise under the Lieberman Plan: the transfer of territory, revoking the citizenship of a people (i.e., the Arabs) – either through transfer of territory or a loyalty oath, and the gaining of new territory (settlement blocs in the West Bank). Timothy Waters writes that the plan can be creatively imagined as a secession – as if Israel was seceding from its present borders to smaller borders where the Jews have a larger majority.[12]

Generally speaking, land transfer, as opposed to population transfer, is legal under both International and Israeli law. The Israeli precedent was exemplified in 1979 when Israel agreed to transfer the Sinai Desert in exchange for peace with Egypt. The issue that arises with this plan is the transfer of populated territories and the revocation of citizenship for those in the transferred areas.[6] Even this, in principle, seems to be legal under international law.[12]

A number of legal experts questioned by The Jerusalem Post in 2006 argued that stripping Israeli Arabs of citizenship as part of a population and territorial swap with the Palestinian Authority would "run counter to Israeli and international law".[13] They stated that Israel could decide that the "Triangle", which is populated mostly by Israeli Arabs, is no longer part of Israel but that she could not revoke the citizenship of the people living there. However, others questioned in the same report, including parliamentary and constitutional law teacher, Suzie Navot, argued that the legality of the plan was unclear, and would likely need a ruling from the High Court of Justice to determine its legality.[13]Yisrael Beiteinu's legal adviser Yoav Many believes the plan is legal and "would be accepted not just in Israel but also within the international community".[13]

Timothy Waters writes that the plan, contrary to many arguments, is not an example of ethnic cleansing nor apartheid since it does not move any Arab from their land. He writes that states have the right to transfer (or withdraw from) territory, even against the wishes of the population, or to revoke the citizenship of inhabitants.[14] The Lieberman Plan advocates the affected Arab Israelis to become citizens of Palestine, not stateless, and hence doesn't violate 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.[14] Waters also argues that while a state cannot strip an entire ethnic group of their citizenship, it may practice some forms of ethnic discrimination "because ethnicity plays an accepted role in constructing citizenship". He points to the expulsion of black Senegalese from Mauritania, the stripping of northern Muslims of their citizenship by Côte d'Ivoire and the denationalization of Germans from Czechoslovakia (whose legality, he says, was later upheld in courts).[15] Waters also argues that while the transfer of Israeli Arabs to a Palestinian state would harm their interests (e.g. reduction in standard of life) it doesn't violate any of their human rights.[16]

While there are international precedents for the idea of populated land exchange, and international law seems to be favorable, there is no such precedent under Israeli law. Scholars tend to agree that the plan is, at best, questionable under Israeli law. Currently, there is no Israeli law which would deal with this issue.[13] In order for it to be implemented, the Knesset would have to enact legislation, and the High Court of Justice would rule on its legality. It is unlikely that either International or Israeli law would allow revocation of citizenship without a bilateral agreement with the Palestinian Authority.[17]

Individuals who would prefer to remain in Israel instead of becoming citizens of a Palestinian state would be able to move to Israel. All citizens of Israel would be required to swear a loyalty oath to retain citizenship. Those who refuse could remain in Israel as permanent residents. The loyalty oath would apply to all citizens regardless of ethnicity. According to Timothy Waters "the loyalty oath almost certainly violates international law." The rationale behind this is that international law sees citizenship as an automatic right. Furthermore, those who refused to take the oath would be stateless, unlike those transferred under the population exchange part of the plan.[18]

Timothy Waters writes that while Israel does have the right to unilaterally withdraw its borders from Arab territory, it cannot unilaterally take territory in the West Bank (in particular the Israeli settlements there). While it would be legitimate for a sovereign Palestine to transfer territory to Israeli control, Palestine would be under no obligation to do so. Waters bases this on the argument that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, constitute occupied territory.[14]

Most criticisms of the plan focus on the undesirability of separation as opposed to its infeasibility. Many Arab citizens of Israel have criticized the plan as being racist and are, in general, opposed to it.[19] While the plan would not require them to leave their homes, Arabs in Israel argue that they are native to the region and insist that as Israeli citizens, they deserve equal rights within the state, and should not be singled out by ethnic or religious background. Various polls show that Arabs in Israel in general do not wish to move to the West Bank or Gaza if a Palestinian state is created there.[3]

Several Israeli left-wing commentators have argued against the plan as well. Jewish critics sympathetic to the idea of exchanging populated territories have argued that it would be preferable to do this as part of a comprehensive peace agreement. They point out that while Arabs under the plan would still be allowed to retain Israeli citizenship if they take an oath of allegiance, no reciprocal possibility exists.

Akiva Eldar of Haaretz has said that the plan undermines the moral high ground of Israel.[20]Haaretz has argued that the plan "is nothing but polite packaging that does not succeed in concealing its real aspiration: delegitimizing all the Arab citizens of Israel".[21]

Daniel Gordis wrote that the plan's implementation would be highly demoralizing to those Arabs who would not be removed and might give them the sense that Israel does not want them. Gordis argued that this could set back any attempt to build better relations with the Israeli-Arab community. However, he acknowledged that they may already believe that Israel doesn't want them and are unlikely to embrace Israel as a Jewish state, and that nothing Israel does will convince them otherwise.[22]

Other pro-Arab commentators have expressed skepticism that such a land-and-population transfer would result in the withdrawal of Israeli settlers and, hence, IDF soldiers, from areas of Israeli residence in the Lieberman-envisioned Palestinian state.[23] Another concern is that Israeli zones within the West Bank will be subject to a security threat, putting the IDF at high risk to defend them.

^Timothy Waters (2008). "The Blessing of Departure: Acceptable and Unacceptable State Support for Demographic Transformation: The Lieberman Plan to Exchange Populated Territories in Cisjordan". Law & Ethics of Human Rights. 2 (1): 12.

^Timothy Waters (2008). "The Blessing of Departure: Acceptable and Unacceptable State Support for Demographic Transformation: The Lieberman Plan to Exchange Populated Territories in Cisjordan". Law & Ethics of Human Rights. 2 (1): 14.

^Timothy Waters (2008). "The Blessing of Departure: Acceptable and Unacceptable State Support for Demographic Transformation: The Lieberman Plan to Exchange Populated Territories in Cisjordan". Law & Ethics of Human Rights. 2 (1): 14–15.

^ abTimothy Waters (2008). "The Blessing of Departure: Acceptable and Unacceptable State Support for Demographic Transformation: The Lieberman Plan to Exchange Populated Territories in Cisjordan". Law & Ethics of Human Rights. 2 (1): 33.

^ abcTimothy Waters (2008). "The Blessing of Departure: Acceptable and Unacceptable State Support for Demographic Transformation: The Lieberman Plan to Exchange Populated Territories in Cisjordan". Law & Ethics of Human Rights. 2 (1): 21.

^Timothy Waters (2008). "The Blessing of Departure: Acceptable and Unacceptable State Support for Demographic Transformation: The Lieberman Plan to Exchange Populated Territories in Cisjordan". Law & Ethics of Human Rights. 2 (1): 27–28.

^Timothy Waters (2008). "The Blessing of Departure: Acceptable and Unacceptable State Support for Demographic Transformation: The Lieberman Plan to Exchange Populated Territories in Cisjordan". Law & Ethics of Human Rights. 2 (1): 31.

^Timothy Waters (2008). "The Blessing of Departure: Acceptable and Unacceptable State Support for Demographic Transformation: The Lieberman Plan to Exchange Populated Territories in Cisjordan". Law & Ethics of Human Rights. 2 (1): 43.

1.
Camp David Accords
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The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter, the second of these frameworks led directly to the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. Due to the agreement, Sadat and Begin received the shared 1978 Nobel Peace Prize, the first framework, which dealt with the Palestinian territories, was written without participation of the Palestinians and was condemned by the United Nations. The Camp David Accords were the result of 14 months of efforts by Egypt, Israel. The efforts initially focused on a resolution of disputes between Israel and the Arab countries, gradually evolving into a search for a bilateral agreement between Israel and Egypt. Upon assuming office on January 20,1977, President Carter moved to rejuvenate the Middle East peace process that had stalled throughout the 1976 presidential campaign in the United States, the Yom Kippur War further complicated efforts to achieve the objectives written in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242. Israels Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his successor, Menachem Begin, were skeptical of an international conference. Even earlier, Begin had not been opposed to returning the Sinai, Carter visited the heads of state on whom he would have to rely to make any peace agreement feasible. By the end of his first year in office, he had met with Anwar El Sadat of Egypt, King Hussein of Jordan, Hafez al-Assad of Syria. Hafez al-Assad, who had no particular interest in negotiating peace with Israel, also refused to come to the United States, the Prime Minister had not yet arrived at his office and the caller spoke to Mr. Yechiel Kadishai, a Begin staff head. Kadishai said that no one was speaking with anyone and we expect a war in October and he also told the caller that if any high level talks were to occur the caller could be assured that they would be using his approach. Begin arrived, was informed of the plan, and contacted Sadat who agreed to the plan on that day, on the next day, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance traveled to the Middle East to obtain firsthand confirmation of the agreement between Israel and Egypt. The following day, Tuesday,8 August, the Camp David meeting was scheduled to take place in exactly 4 weeks time, the plan was that Israel agreed on 6 August to return the land to Egypt. Sadat’s then waning popularity would be enhanced as a result of such an achievement. Israels security was insured by the activities to take place during the transition period. Those activities also were included in the idea for peace communicated to Begins office on 6 August. President Anwar El Sadat came to feel that the Geneva track peace process was more show than substance and he also lacked confidence in the Western powers to pressure Israel after a meeting with the Western leaders. On 9 November 1977, President Sadat startled the world by announcing to parliament his intention to go to Jerusalem, shortly afterward, the Israeli government cordially invited him to address the Knesset in a message passed to Sadat via the US ambassador to Egypt

2.
Madrid Conference of 1991
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The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference, held from 30 October to 1 November 1991 in Madrid, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. On 3 November, the conference was followed by negotiations between Israel and respectively the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, Lebanon and Syria. Subsequent bilateral meetings took place in Washington from 9 December 1991, in addition to maintaining a permanent U. S. As a first step Bush announced his intention to reconvene the international conference in Madrid. The Bush administration believed there was a window of opportunity to use the capital generated by the U. S. victory in the Gulf War to revitalize the Arab-Israeli peace process. This peace initiative focused on convening a multi-party international conference that would break into separate. U. S. Secretary of State James Baker made eight visits to the region to get support for the conference. A framework of objectives was formulated and the U. S. together with the Soviet Union, extended a letter of invitation, dated 30 October 1991 to Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinians. This request however, added a new dimension to U. S. diplomacy, Secretary Baker made frequent shuttle trips to the region between March and October 1991 in an attempt to find a procedural formula acceptable to all sides. He did not have an easy time finding the formula to convene the conference. In light of Shamirs pro-settlement policy, Palestinians and many Arab governments viewed the request for Israeli loan guarantees as a test of Americas credibility as mediator, throughout the run-up to the Madrid conference, Israels loan guarantee request remained a sore point. By early September 1991, the Administration asked Congress for a 120-day delay on the loan guarantees and this postponement was seen as a way to get to Madrid, to buy time, and to soften the domestic debate. If a settlement freeze could not be obtained from Israel, Bush, must do everything we can to give peace a chance, Bush said in requesting the delay from Congress. Israeli leaders opposed linking the loans to the process, Shamir. Israel and its supporters in Washington began a campaign to support the loan request, by mid-September, U. S. -Israel relations were tense, pro-Israel groups challenged the president and lobbied against the delay. Shamir had originally believed he could outflank Bush and Baker and turn to U. S. public opinion, however, the U. S. Jewish community—though visibly mobilized on this issue—was not united in taking on the Administration, and Shamir soon backed away from a direct confrontation. The Palestinian team was part of a joint Palestinian-Jordanian delegation and consisted of Palestinians from the West Bank and it was formally without overt PLO associates like Saeb Erekat and Haidar Abdel-Shafi, the head of the delegation, because of Israeli objections. However, the delegation was in constant communication with the PLO leadership in Tunis, over Israeli objections, the PLO dispatched an unofficial advisory delegation, headed by Faisal Husseini to act as a liaison

3.
Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron
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It concerned the partial redeployment of Israeli military forces from Hebron in accordance with the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. According to the Protocol, Area H-1 would come under Palestinian control, a large Palestinian majority still lives in both Area H-1 and Area H-2. The redeployment started on 16 January 1997, the protocol has never been ratified by either of the contracting parties. The Hebron Protocol initiated the third partial Israeli withdrawal, after the Gaza–Jericho Agreement, Hebron was excepted from the other West Bank cities, who got the status of Area A in the Oslo II Accord. The withdrawal was scheduled for completion before 28 March 1996. On 7 January 1997, the agreed on some provisions concerning the Old City. On 13 January 1997, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Chairman Arafat in the presence of U. S. envoy Dennis Ross, on 14 January, they made known that they had reached an agreement. On 15 January, the Palestinian Authority in a joint meeting with the Executive Committee of the PLO approved the document, the Israeli Cabinet also approved the document. The Knesset approved the Protocol on 16 January by a vote of 87 to 17, the same day, the IDF began the redeployment from Hebron. The Hebron Protocol was signed on 17 January by Israeli chief negotiator General Dan Shomron, on 21 January, an agreement on the presence of an international monitoring group was signed. The Agreements provided, An IDF withdrawal from 80% of Hebron within ten days and this work would take place in conjunction with the implementation of the main Hebron Protocol. On 13 January 1997, the parties renewed talks on an agreement of troop withdrawal from Hebron, on 15 January 1997, Netanyahu and Arafat reached an agreement on the Protocol. U. S. envoy Dennis Ross drew up a note for the record to spell out the commitments, the partial Israeli withdrawal would begin within the next 10 days. The two leaders agreed that the Oslo peace process must move forward to succeed and that they had concerns and obligations about the Interim Agreement on the West Bank, prisoner release issues would be dealt with in accordance with the Interim Agreements provisions. Permanent status negotiations would be resumed within two months after implementation of the Hebron Protocol, the size of Palestinian police would be in keeping with the Interim Agreement. Exercise of governmental activity, and location of Palestinian governmental offices, in accordance with the provisions of the Interim Agreement both parties agreed on this protocol for the implementation of the redeployment in Hebron. The redeployment of the Israel Defense Forces in Hebron would be carried out in accordance with the Interim Agreement, Redeployment would be completed not later than ten days from the signing of this Protocol. During these ten days both sides would exert every effort to prevent friction

4.
Wye River Memorandum
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The Wye River Memorandum was an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinian Authority at a summit in Wye River, Maryland, U. S. held from 15–23 October 1998. The Memorandum aimed to resume the implementation of the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and it was signed in the White House by Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat, through negotiations led by U. S. President Bill Clinton, on 23 October 1998. On 17 November 1998 Israels 120 member parliament, the Knesset, the Memorandum determined that it would enter into force on 2 November 1998, ten days from the date of signature. On 18 December 1998, the Clinton administration and the EU declared their contentment about the implementation of the first phase of the Memorandum by both sides. Israel, however, had only implemented stage 1 of the further redeployment, both parties accused each other of not fulfilling its share of responsibilities under the Wye River Memorandum, and the further implementation of the agreement remained unfinished. In the final push to get Netanyahu and Arafat to overcome remaining obstacles, on the final day of the negotiations, the agreement almost fell through. A bitter disagreement arose, with Netanyahu claiming that Clinton had promised to release Pollard and it was reported that then-Director of the CIA George Tenet had threatened to resign should Pollard be released. The agreement was signed by Netanyahu and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House. For the implementation of the Oslo II Accord and to facilitate the Israeli withdrawal from parts of the West Bank, Israel, the documents contained the reciprocal responsibilities, including those relating to further redeployments and security. In 1994, the Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities Between Israel, in 1995, the Protocol on Further Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities followed. The 1997 Hebron Protocol settled the withdrawal from 80% of Hebron, only the phases 1 and 2 are specified. Phase 3 was delegated to a Third further redeployment committee which was to be started, the Phases one and two, not specified in the Oslo II Accord, comprised the transfer to the Palestinians of 13% from Area C and shifts of parts of Area B to Area A. The redeployment was divided into three stages, specified in the Time line, Area B would increase with 13% and Area A with 14%. If the Memorandum had been implemented, Area C would theoretically have been reduced from circa 74% to 61% and this specification was a result of a misunderstanding regarding Prime Minister Netanyahus bottom line for Israeli territorial withdrawal. He told American negotiator Dennis Ross he could go as high as the lowest teen in percentage of territory, later, Netanyahu insisted he had meant 11% withdrawal, so Ross surfaced the idea of using the nature reserves to bridge the 11% and 13% figures. The Palestinian side was to make known its policy of tolerance for terror. The U. S. agreed to assist in carrying out the program and this decree would be comparable to the existing Israeli legislation which deals with the same subject. The Israeli, Palestinian and U. S. sides would each appoint a media specialist, a law enforcement representative, an educational specialist, there would be an exchange of forensic expertise, training, and other assistance

5.
2000 Camp David Summit
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The 2000 Camp David Summit was a summit meeting at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 and was an effort to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the summit ended without an agreement. U. S. However, the process put in place under Oslo had fulfilled neither Israeli nor Palestinian expectations. On 11 July, the Camp David 2000 Summit convened, although the Palestinians considered the summit premature and they even saw it as a trap. The summit ended on 25 July, without an agreement being reached, at its conclusion, a Trilateral Statement was issued defining the agreed principles to guide future negotiations. The negotiations were based on an all or nothing approach, such that nothing was considered agreed, the proposals were, for the most part, verbal. As no agreement was reached and there is no written record of the proposals. This consensus was expressed by Faisal Husseini when he remarked, There can be no compromise on the compromise and they maintained that Resolution 242 calls for full Israeli withdrawal from these territories, which were captured in the Six-Day War, as part of a final peace settlement. Israel wanted to annex the numerous settlement blocks on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, based on the Israeli definition of the West Bank, Barak offered to form a Palestinian state initially on 73% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza Strip. In 10–25 years, the Palestinian state would expand to a maximum of 92% of the West Bank, from the Palestinian perspective this equated to an offer of a Palestinian state on a maximum of 86% of the West Bank. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Israel would have withdrawn from 63 settlements, according to Robert Wright, Israel would only keep the settlements with large populations. Wright states that all others would be dismantled, with the exception of Kiryat Arba, which would be an Israeli enclave inside the Palestinian state, in return, Israel would allow the Palestinians to use a highway in the Negev to connect the West Bank with Gaza. This highway would be under the sovereignty of Israel, and Israel reserved the right to close the highway to passage in case of emergency, Israel would retain around 9% in the West Bank in exchange for 1% of land within the Green Line. The land that would be conceded included symbolic and cultural territories such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque, additional to territorial concessions, Palestinian airspace would be controlled by Israel under Baraks offer. Settlement blocs, bypassed roads and annexed lands would create barriers between Nablus and Jenin with Ramallah, the Ramallah bloc would in turn be divided from Bethlehem and Hebron. A separate and smaller bloc would contain Jericho, further, the border between West Bank and Jordan would additionally be under Israeli control. The Palestinian Authority would receive pockets of East Jerusalem which would be surrounded entirely by annexed lands in the West Bank, a particularly virulent territorial dispute revolved around the final status of Jerusalem. Leaders were ill prepared for the role the Jerusalem issue in general

6.
Road map for peace
–
The principles of the plan, originally drafted by U. S. A draft version from the Bush administration was published as early as 14 November 2002, the final text was released on 30 April 2003. The process reached an early in phase I and the plan was never implemented. The Second Intifada, which started in September 2000, showed an escalation of mutual violence, in March 2002, in response to a wave of suicide attacks, culminating in the Passover massacre, Israel launched a major military operation in the West Bank, dubbed Operation Defensive Shield. Virtually the complete Palestinian public administration was destroyed by the Israeli army, the army largely destroyed Arafats Compound in Ramallah, with the main offices of the PA, and placed President Yasser Arafat under siege. US, EU, UN and Russia, who became the Quartet on the Middle East and this happened against the background of George W. Bushs ″War on Terror″, which started after the 11 September 2001 attacks and dominated the international politics. The Roadmap is based on a speech of U. S. President George W. Bush on 24 June 2002, a first EU-draft, proposed in September 2002, was put aside in favour of a U. S. -draft. The draft version from the Bush administration was published as early as 14 November 2002, the EU pushed the Quartet to present the final text on 20 December 2002, but failed, due to Israeli opposition. Sharon pledged support for the Roadmap, provided the Palestinian state was restricted to 42% of the West Bank and 70% of the Gaza strip, Israel ruled out the division of Jerusalem and the Palestinian right of return and requested more than 100 changes to the Roadmap. In a statement, Bush made clear that the plan was developed by the United States, described as a performance-based and goal-driven roadmap, the Roadmap is built on goals without going into details. However, as a plan, progress will require and depend upon the good faith efforts of the parties. This made the Roadmap different from former peace plans, there was no time-scheme to reach the goal, the Roadmap is composed of three phases, I. Satisfy the preconditions for a Palestinian state, II, creating an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders, III. Negotiations on a permanent status agreement, recognition of a Palestinian state with permanent borders, Israeli refrain from deportations, attacks on civilians, demolition and destruction, etc. NB, A provisional state in Phase II would thus include all existing settlements, although the plan was presented with considerable delay, the original timetable was not adapted. Ariel Sharon asked, then US Secretary of State, Colin Powell What do you want, while the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas accepted the Roadmap, right wing ministers in the Israeli government opposed the Roadmap. Sharon could only accept the plan with some artful language, thus the Government accepted the steps set out in the Roadmap, on 25 May 2003, the Prime Ministers Cabinet approved the Roadmap with 14 reservations. No progress to the next phase before complete cessation of terror, violence, no timelines for carryout the Roadmap

7.
Annapolis Conference
–
The Annapolis Conference was a Middle East peace conference held on 27 November 2007, at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The conference aimed to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process and implement the Roadmap for peace, the conference ended with the issuing of a joint statement from all parties. After the Annapolis Conference, the negotiations were continued, the United States organized and hosted the conference. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and U. S. President George W. Bush attended the meeting. A partial list of over 40 invitees was released on 20 November 2007, including China, the Arab League, Russia, the European Union, the conference aimed to revive the Peace process and gather broad international support. The objective was to restart negotiations on a status agreement that addresses all core issues. A draft document was leaked by Haaretz before the conference, with the final, President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert had six meetings since June 2007 to try to agree on some basic issues ahead of the summit. A final round of discussions between Olmert and Abbas was held in Washington D. C. on 26 November 2007, after the Annapolis Conference, the negotiations were continued. This was Rices 8th visit to the region during the Bush Administration, Abbas stated that a clear agenda was necessary for the conference. He demanded a Palestinian state comprising an equal to the territory of the West Bank. He further demanded that all six central issues be debated at the conference, Jerusalem, refugees and right of return, borders, settlements, water and security. Abbas said that he hoped to reach an agreement with Israel by the end of November 2007, furthermore, he expressed his hope that a final agreement with Israel would be possible within six months of the conference. Shas minister Eli Yishai explained, Jerusalem is above all political considerations, I will not help enable concessions on Jerusalem. Olmerts ability to follow through on his comments about concessions in East Jerusalem is therefore in question. Prior to the conference, President Bush met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the White House, after meeting with Olmert and Abbas, President Bush read from a joint statement, signed by both parties, supporting a Two-State Solution. A steering committee would meet from 12 December 2007, followed by negotiations between President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert. Hamas and Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran called for a boycott of the conference, in the West Bank, large demonstrations opposed to the conference were quelled heavy-handedly, and demonstrators were beaten by Fatah militants. The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denounced the event, on 27 November 2007, Rabbi Dov Lior of the Yesha Rabbis Council called an emergency meeting in order to discuss the upcoming conference

8.
Borders of Israel
–
Israels borders are the borders of the State of Israel. The borders have changed from time to time with developments in Israels military, the border with Egypt is the international border demarcated in 1906 between Britain and the Ottoman Empire. They are referred to as the 1923 Paulet-Newcombe Agreement borders, being those of Mandate Palestine, Israels borders with Egypt and Jordan have now been formally recognized and confirmed as part of the peace treaties with those countries, and with Lebanon as part of the 1949 Armistice Agreements. As of 2002, the borders with Syria and Palestinian National Authority were still in dispute, the Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 secretly divided the Ottoman Empire lands of Middle East between British and French spheres of influence. They agreed that Palestine was to be designated as an international enclave and this agreement was revised by Britain and France in 1919. It was agreed that Palestine and the Vilayet of Mosul in modern-day Iraq would be part of the British sphere in exchange for British support of French influence in Syria and Lebanon. In October 1919 the British envisaged the area that is today southern Lebanon, in the East, matters were more complicated. Was part of the Ottoman province of Damascus which in the Sykes-Picot agreement had been allocated to the French, at the San Remo Conference the Allied Supreme Council granted the mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia to Britain without precisely defining the boundaries of the mandated territories. That said, the 1920 agreement contained Article 25, which created provision for the possible later exclusion of land east of the Jordan from the Balfour Declaration, the boundary between the forthcoming British and French mandates was defined in broad terms. That agreement placed the bulk of the Golan Heights in the French sphere, the treaty also established a joint commission to settle the border and mark it on the ground. In accordance with the process, a nearby parcel of land that included the ancient site of Dan was transferred from Syria to Palestine early in 1924. In this way the Golan Heights became part of the French Mandate of Syria, when the French Mandate of Syria ended in 1944, the Golan Heights remained part of the newly independent state of Syria. In June 1922, the League of Nations approved the Palestine Mandate, the French/Italian dispute was resolved on September 29,1923, and both Mandates came into force on that date. Britain administered the part west of the Jordan as Palestine, Palestine comprised 23% of the Mandate territory and Transjordan comprised 77%. Technically they were one mandate but most official documents referred to them as two separate mandates, Transjordan remained under British control until 1946, when it gained independence. Britain declared that the Mandate was to end on 15 May 1948, on 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion, in a ceremony in Tel-Aviv, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Eliahu Epstein, Agent, Provisional Government of Israel said in a letter to President Truman seeking recognition from the U. The United Nations in June 2000 was called upon to decide the Lebanese border to determine whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 425 and this line came to be called the Blue Line

9.
Israeli settlement
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Such settlements within Palestinian territories currently exist in Area C of the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and within Syrian territory in the Golan Heights. Israel dismantled 18 settlements in the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, while in 2005 all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip were dismantled, but only four in the West Bank. In the West Bank, however, Israel continues to expand its remaining settlements as well as settling new areas, the International Court of Justice also says these purportedly annexed settlements are illegal in a 2004 advisory opinion. Similar criticism was advanced by the EU and the US, Israel disputes the position of the international community and the legal arguments that were used to declare the settlements illegal. Most of the spending goes to the security of the Israeli citizens living there, on 30 June 2014, according to the Yesha Council,382,031 Israeli citizens lived in the 121 officially recognised Israeli settlements in the West Bank, almost exclusively Jewish citizens of Israel. In January 2015 the Israeli Interior Ministry gave figures of 389,250 Israeli citizens living in the West Bank, settlements range in character from farming communities and frontier villages to urban suburbs and neighborhoods. The four largest settlements, Modiin Illit, Maale Adumim, Beitar Illit, Ariel has 18,000 residents, while the rest have around 37,000 to 55,500 each. The 1967 Six-Day War left Israel in control of the entire West Bank of the Jordan River, the entire Sinai Peninsula up to the Suez Canal, and the Gaza strip. Most of the Golan Heights, since 1981, administered under the Golan Heights Law, as early as 1967, Israeli settlement policy was started by the Labor government of Levi Eshkol. The basis for Israeli settlement in the West Bank became the Allon Plan and it implied Israeli annexation of major parts of the Israeli-occupied territories, especially East Jerusalem, Gush Etzion and the Jordan Valley. The settlement policy of the government of Yitzhak Rabin, was derived from the Allon Plan. The first settlement was Kfar Etzion, in the southern West Bank, many settlements began as Nahal settlements. They were established as military outposts and later expanded and populated with civilian inhabitants, Ariel Sharon declared in the same year that there was a plan to settle 2 million Jews in the West Bank by 2000. Since 1967, government-funded settlement projects in the West Bank are implemented by the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization, though formally a non-governmental organization, it is funded by the Israeli government and leases lands from the Civil Administration to settle in the West Bank. It is authorized to create settlements in the West Bank on lands licensed to it by the Civil Administration, traditionally, the Settlement Division has been under the responsibility of the Agriculture Ministry. Since the Olso Accords, it was housed within the Prime Ministers Office. In 2007, it was moved back to the Agriculture Ministry, in 2009, the Netanyahu Government decided to subject all settlement activities to additional approval of the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister. In 2011, Netanyahu sought to move the Settlement Division again under the control of PMO

10.
Homeland for the Jewish people
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A homeland for the Jewish people is an idea rooted in Jewish culture and religion. In the early 19th century, the Napoleonic Wars led to the idea of Jewish emancipation and this unleashed a number of religious and secular cultural streams and political philosophies among the Jews in Europe, covering everything from Marxism to Chassidism. Among these movements was Zionism as promoted by Theodore Herzl, in the late 19th century, Herzl set out his vision of a Jewish state and homeland for the Jewish people in his book Der Judenstaat. Herzl was later hailed by the Zionist political parties as the father of the State of Israel. In the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the United Kingdom became the first world power to endorse the establishment in Palestine of a home for the Jewish people. The British government confirmed this commitment by accepting the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922, the European powers mandated the creation of a Jewish homeland at the San Remo conference of 19–26 April 1920. In 1948, the State of Israel was established, the Jewish aspiration to return to Zion is part of Jewish religious thought that dates back to the destruction of the First Temple. However, the movement for the creation of a secular homeland within the confines of modern international law was perceived as a solution to the widespread persecution of Jews within Europe. This became the centerpiece of secular political Zionism, anti-Semitism was not limited to Europe. The Zionist movement was preceded by several Jewish groups that had popularized the move to Israel. For example, Israel ben Pereẓ of Polotsk and hundreds of other Jewish groups settled in Israel from Europe, developing communities in Jerusalem, Hebron and around much of the country. This was in addition to the existing communities of Sephardi and Ashkenazim in Tiberias, Tsfat. Zionists, however, worked within the international legal framework. They also armed and defended themselves, in 1896, Theodore Herzl set out his vision of a Jewish state and homeland for the Jewish people in his book Der Judenstaat. He then proceeded to found the Zionist Organisation, numerous delegates sought to insert the phrase by international law, which was opposed by others. A compromise formula was adopted, which came to be known as the Basel program, the Sykes–Picot Agreement of 16 May 1916 set aside the region of Palestine for international administration under British control. The phrase national home was used instead of state because of opposition to the Zionist program within the British Cabinet. The initial draft of the referred to the principle that Palestine should be reconstituted as the National Home of the Jewish people

11.
Palestinian political violence
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Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence or terror motivated by Palestinian nationalism. Periodically directed toward more limited goals such as the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the PLO officially renounced terrorism in 1988, and Fatah says it no longer engages in terrorism. The PFLP-GC has been internationally inactive, the Abu Nidal organization all but dissolved on his death and exists only in name. Tactics have included hostage taking, plane hijackings, stone throwing, stabbing, shootings, several of these groups are considered terrorist organizations by the United States government, Canada and the European Union. Palestinian political violence has targeted Israelis, Palestinians, Lebanese, Jordanians, Egyptians, Americans and citizens of other countries, the attacks have taken place within and outside Israel and have been directed at both military and civilian targets. Israeli statistics state that 3,500 Israelis have been killed and 25,000 have been wounded as a result of Palestinian violence since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and these figures include soldiers as well as civilians, including those killed in exchanges of gunfire. Israeli statistics listing hostile terrorist attacks also include incidents in which stones are thrown, personal grievances, trauma, or revenge against Israel are widely maintained to form an important element in motivating attacks against Israelis. By the end of Ottoman rule, the Jewish population of Palestine was 56,000 or one-sixth of the population. After the passing of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947 which called for the establishment of independent Arab and Jewish States, on the other hand,24,841 Jews and Israelis have died and 35,356 have been wounded during the same period. Since 1967, some estimate that some 40% of the male population of the West Bank. Around 400 Palestinian infiltrators were killed by Israeli Security Forces each year in 1951,1952 and 1953,1,000 or more were killed in 1949. At least 100 were killed during 1954–6, in total upward of 2,700 and possibly as many as 5,000 infiltrators were killed by the IDF, police, and civilians along Israels borders between 1949 and 1956. At first, Palestinians were trying to go back to their houses or to retrieve property but after 1950 these acts became more violent. After Israels Operation Black Arrow in 1955 which came as a result of a series of massacres in the city of Rehovot, the Israeli government cites dozens of these attacks as Major Arab Terrorist Attacks against Israelis prior to the 1967 Six-Day War. Between 1951 and 1956,400 Israelis were killed and 900 wounded by fedayeen attacks, according to the Anti-Defamation League n 1955 alone,260 Israeli citizens were killed or wounded by fedayeen. The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded in 1964, at its first convention in Cairo, hundreds of Palestinians met to, call for the right of self-determination and the upholding of the rights of the Palestinian nation. In order to achieve goals, a Palestinian army of liberation was thought to be essential, thus. Fatah, a Palestinian group founded in the late 1950s to organize the resistance against Israel

12.
Palestinian right of return
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This view holds that those who opt not to return or for whom return is not feasible, should receive compensation in lieu. Opponents of the right of return hold that there is no basis for it in law. The number of Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war is estimated at between 700,000 and 800,000, and another 280,000 to 350,000 people were refugees of the 1967 war. Approximately 120, 000–170,000 among the 1967 refugees are believed to have also been refugees from the 1948 war, today, the estimated number of Palestinian refugees, including both first-generation refugees and their descendants, exceeds four million. The issue of the right of return has been of importance to Palestinians since 1948. UN General Assembly Resolution 3236, passed on 22 November 1974 declared the right of return to be an inalienable right, however, General Assembly resolutions are not binding in international law, and the Oslo Agreements deliberately omit any mention of these resolutions. The Palestinian refugee problem started during the 1948 Palestine War, when between 700,000 and 750,000 Arabs left, fled, or were expelled from their homes in the area that would become Israel. From December 1947 to March 1948, around 100,000 Palestinians left, among them were many from the higher and middle classes from the cities, who left voluntarily, expecting to return when the situation had calmed down. Some expulsions arose, particularly along the Tel-Aviv – Jerusalem road, after the truce of June, about 100,000 Palestinians became refugees. About 50,000 inhabitants of Lydda and Ramle were expelled towards Ramallah by Israeli forces during Operation Danny, during Operation Dekel, the Arabs of Nazareth and South Galilee could remain in their homes. They later formed the core of the Arab Israelis, from October to November 1948, the IDF launched Operation Yoav to chase Egyptian forces from the Negev and Operation Hiram to chase the Arab Liberation Army from North Galilee. This generated an exodus of 200,000 to 220,000 Palestinians, here, Arabs fled fearing atrocities or were expelled if they had not fled. During Operation Hiram, at least nine massacres of Arabs were performed by IDF soldiers, after the war, from 1948 to 1950, the IDF cleared its borders, which resulted in the expulsion of around 30,000 to 40,000 Arabs. The UN estimated the number of refugees outside Israel at 711,000, the causes and responsibilities of the exodus are a matter of controversy among historians and commentators of the conflict. During the Palestinian exodus, Israeli leaders decided against the return of the refugees. During her visit at Haïfa on May 1,1948, Golda Meir declared, The Jews should treat the remaining Arabs with civil and human equality, a Transfer Committee and a policy of faits accomplis were set up to prevent a refugee return. In July, it had become a policy, Absentees property was managed by Israeli government. Others have compared Palestinians claims for compensation to the claims of ethnic Germans who were expelled from eastern Europe in the aftermath of the Holocaust and World War II

13.
Positions on Jerusalem
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There is significant disagreement in the international community on the legal and diplomatic status of Jerusalem. Legal scholars disagree on how to resolve the dispute under international law, many United Nations member states formally adhere to the United Nations proposal that Jerusalem should have an international status. The chief dispute revolves around the status of East Jerusalem. As a result, foreign embassies are located in Tel Aviv. Jerusalem is one of the key issues in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, both Israelis and the Palestinians want it as their capital. The European Union has stated that Jerusalems status is that of corpus separatum, from 1517 until the First World War, Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire. Since the 1860s, Jews have formed the largest religious group in the city and since around 1887, in the 19th century, European powers vied for influence in the city, usually on the basis of extending protection over Christian churches and Holy Places. A number of countries also established consulates in Jerusalem. In 1917 and following the First World War, Great Britain was in control of Jerusalem, however, the Arab and Jewish communities in Palestine were in mortal dispute and Britain sought United Nations assistance in resolving the dispute. Jewish representatives accepted the plan, however, representatives of the Palestinian Arabs, in May 1948, the Jewish community in Palestine issued the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel. The new state was quickly recognised de facto by the United States, Iran, Guatemala, Iceland, Nicaragua, Romania, and Uruguay. The Soviet Union was the first nation to fully recognize Israel de jure on 17 May 1948, followed by Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Ireland, the United States extended official recognition after the first Israeli election, on 31 January 1949. Israel became a member of the United Nations on 11 May 1949, the states recognizing Israel did not recognize its sovereignty over Jerusalem generally citing the UN resolutions which called for an international status for the city. With the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel and the subsequent invasion by surrounding Arab states, the 1949 Armistice Agreements left Jordan in control of the eastern parts of the city, while the western sector was held by Israel. Each side recognised the de facto control of their respective sectors. Soon after Israel declared that Jerusalem was a part of the State of Israel. In 1950, Jordan annexed eastern Jerusalem, following the 1967 war, Israel declared that Israeli law would be applied to East Jerusalem and enlarged its eastern boundaries, approximately doubling its size. The action was deemed unlawful by other states who did not recognize it and it was condemned by the UN Security Council and General Assembly who described it as an annexation in violation of the rights of the Palestinian population

14.
Zionist political violence
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Zionist political violence refers to acts of violence committed by Zionists. British soldiers and officials, United Nations personnel, Palestinian Arab fighters and civilians, domestic, commercial, and government property, infrastructure, and material have also been attacked. In 1935, the Irgun, a Zionist underground military organization, the Irgun were the armed expression of the nascent ideology of Revisionist Zionism founded by Zeev Jabotinsky. He expressed this ideology as every Jew had the right to enter Palestine, only active retaliation would deter the Arab and the British, only Jewish armed force would ensure the Jewish state. During the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, Palestinian Arabs fought for the end of the Mandate and they attacked both British and Jews as well as some Palestinian Arabs who supported a Pan-Arabism. Mainstream Zionists, represented by the Vaad Leumi and the Haganah, practiced the policy of Havlagah, while Irgun militants did not follow this policy, the Irgun began bombing Palestinian Arab civilian targets in 1938. While the Palestinian Arabs were carefully disarmed by the British Mandatory authorities by 1939, after the beginning of World War II, the Haganah and Irgun suspended their activity against the British in support of their war against Nazi Germany. The smaller Lehi continued anti-British attacks and direct action throughout the war, after World War II, between 1945 and the 29 November 1947 Partition vote, British soldiers and policemen were targeted by Irgun and Lehi. It also continued to organize illegal immigration, in February 1947, the British announced that they would end the mandate and withdraw from Palestine and they asked the arbitration of the United Nations. After the vote of the Partition Plan for Palestine on 30 November 1947, Jewish and Arab communities fought each other violently in campaigns of attacks, retaliations and counter-retaliations which provoked around 800 deaths after two months. Arab volunteers entered Palestine to fight alongside the Palestinian Arabs, in April,6 weeks before the termination of the Mandate, the Jewish militias launched wide operations to control the territory dedicated to them by the Partition Plan. Many atrocities occurred during this time, the Arab population in the mixed cities of Tiberias, Safed, Haifa, Jaffa, Beisan and Acre and in the neighbouring villages fled or were expelled during this period. During the Battle for Jerusalem where the Jewish community of 100,000 people was besieged, most Arab villages of the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem corridor were captured by Jewish militias and leveled. At the beginning of the war, the Jewish militias organized several bombing attacks against civilians. On 12 December, Irgun placed a car bomb opposite the Damascus Gate, on 4 January 1948, the Lehi detonated a lorry bomb against the headquarters of the paramilitary Najjada located in Jaffas Town Hall, killing 15 Arabs and injuring 80. During the night between 5 and 6 January, the Haganah bombed the Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem that had reported to hide Arab militiamen. The next day, Irgun members in a police van rolled a barrel bomb into a large group of civilians who were waiting for a bus by the Jaffa Gate. Another Irgun bomb went off in the Ramla market on February 18, killing 7 residents, on 28 February, the Palmah organised a bombing attack against a garage at Haifa, killing 30 people

15.
Israeli West Bank barrier
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The Israeli West Bank barrier or wall is a separation barrier in the West Bank or along the Green Line. Barrier opponents claim it seeks to annex Palestinian land under the guise of security, in Hebrew, descriptions include, separation fence, separation wall and security fence. In Arabic, it is called wall of apartheid جدار الفصل العنصري, in English, the BBCs style guide uses the terms barrier as does The Economist, PBS and the New York Times. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs uses the phrase security fence in English, the International Court of Justice has used the term wall explaining the other expressions sometimes employed are no more accurate if understood in the physical sense. It is also referred to as the Apartheid Wall or Apartheid Fence in a derogatory manner, Seam zone refers to the land between the 1949 Armistice Agreement Line and the fence. The barrier contains an on-average 60-metre wide exclusion area, the width of some sections is larger due to topographic conditions. The width of some sections is 3 metres where the barrier is constructed as a wall up to 8 metres high. These sections are narrower, require less land, and provide protection against snipers. Wall construction is common in urban settings, e. g. Qalqilyah and Jerusalem. The barrier nearly encircles some Palestinian towns, about 20% follows the line. Some 27,520 to 31,000 Palestinians will be captured on the Israeli side, another 124,000, on the other hand, will effectively be controlled and isolated. Some 230,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem will be placed on the West Bank side, most of the barrier was built at the northern and western edges of the West Bank, mostly beyond the Green Line and created 9 enclaves, which enclosed 15,783 ha. An additional barrier, circa 10 km long, run south of Ramallah, by contrast, the International Court of Justice states that in such cases it is only legal to build the barrier inside Israel. The barrier route has been challenged in court and changed several times, argument presented to the court has reiterated that the cease-fire line of 1949 was negotiated without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines. In 1992, the idea of creating a barrier separating the Israeli. In 1994, a first barrier was constructed along the Green Line between Bat Hefer and Tulkarm, in 1995, the Shahal commission was established to discuss how to implement a separation barrier. In 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak approved financing of a 74 km fence between the Wadi Ara region and Latrun, on 23 June 2002, the Ariel Sharon Government definitely approved the plan in principle and work at the barrier begun. By 2003,180 km had been completed and in 2004, by 2006,362 km of the barrier had been completed,88 km was under construction and 253 km had not yet been started

16.
Israel Electric Corporation
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Israel Electric Corporation is the largest supplier of electrical power in Israel. The IEC builds, maintains, and operates power generation stations, sub-stations, the company is the sole integrated electric utility in the State of Israel. Its installed generating capacity represents about 75% of the electricity production capacity in the country. It transmits and distributes all the electricity used in Israel. The State of Israel owns approximately 99. 85% of the company, the Jaffa Electric Company was founded in 1923 by Pinhas Rutenberg, and was later absorbed into a newly created Palestine Electric Company. The company was incorporated in Mandatory Palestine with its object to produce, supply, distribute. Israel Electric Corp. was first registered under the name The Palestine Electricity, Corporation Limited, which was changed in 1961 to its present name The Israel Electric Corporation Limited. Most of the base load electricity is generated using coal, though by the end of 2010 the company expected the majority of installed generation capacity to be in the form of natural gas plants. In 2009, the company sold 48,947 GWh of electricity, to meet projected future electricity demand, an IEC capital investment program provided for the addition of 2,578 MW of installed capacity by the end of 2011. In addition, the government of Israel was seeking private companies to generate an additional several thousand megawatts by the middle of the 2010s, which would then be distributed by the IEC. The Orot Rabin power station owned by the IEC has Israels second-tallest structure, israeli former Olympic sailor Shimshon Brokman has worked for Israel Electric Corporation since 1988, from 2006 as Head of the Fuel Management Department. The companys current CEO is Ofer Bloch, the IEC also provides power to the Palestinian territories. They are one of three sources of power for the Gaza Strip, and to the West Bank, on 23 February 2015 the IEC intentionally cut off the West Bank power for about 45 minutes due to uncollected debts. Two days later they again cut off power, stating it was a warning to the Palestinian Authority to begin paying down the debt, which at that time was NIS1.9 billion. The IEC stated that they are losing NIS85 million per month on power being supplied to Nablus and Jenin that they are not being paid for, causing the majority of their quarterly loss. The Palestinians accused IEC of collective punishment, however the IEC stated that they must operate independently and are treating this as they would any customer who does not pay their debts. On 31 March 2016 the IEC once again cut power to parts of the West Bank, in the Jericho area, on 4 April the IEC cut power, in the Bethlehem area, and the following day the IEC cut power in the Hebron area. On 6 April, the IEC restored full power to the West Bank after they received a NIS20 million payment, economy of Israel Energy in Israel Science and technology in Israel Investor Relations Site Official Site

17.
Quartet on the Middle East
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The Quartet are the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia. The group was established in Madrid in 2002, recalling Madrid Conference of 1991, tony Blair resigned as the Quartets Special Envoy on 27 May 2015. The initiative to establish the Quartet evolved following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in September 2000, in the same meeting, they also agreed to transform their quadripartite cooperation into a permanent forum for follow-up of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. James Wolfensohn, the president of the World Bank, was appointed Special Envoy for Israels disengagement from Gaza in April 2005. He stepped down the year because of restrictions in dealing with the Islamic militant group Hamas. The approval came after initial objections by Russia, the United Nations were overseeing the finances and security of his mission, before his resignation on 27 May 2015. The present special envoy from November 2015 is the Dutch national Kito de Boer, tony Blair has periodically travelled to the Middle East following his appointment as Special Envoy. On a trip there in March 2008, he met with Israeli leaders to discuss recent violence, a planned meeting between Israeli and Palestinian businessmen was postponed due to recent fighting. In May 2008 Blair announced a new plan for peace and for Palestinian rights, dont apply rules to the Government of Israel that you would never dream of applying to your own country, he said. He characterized such double standards and prejudice as being an affront to humanity which it is a duty to counter. The Quartet has been criticized for its ineffectiveness. They said his job, and the body he represents, are ′useless, useless, the Center for Middle East Policy said in February 2012 that The Quartet has little to show for its decade-long involvement in the peace process. The current mechanism is too outdated, dysfunctional, and discredited to be reformed. S

18.
United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General

19.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci

20.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum

21.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians

22.
Arab League
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The Arab League, formally the League of Arab States, is a regional organization of Arab countries in and around North Africa, the Horn of Africa and Arabia. It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members, Kingdom of Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945. Currently, the League has 22 members, but Syrias participation has been suspended since November 2011, the League has served as a platform for the drafting and conclusion of many landmark documents promoting economic integration. One example is the Joint Arab Economic Action Charter, which outlines the principles for economic activities in the region, each member state has one vote in the League Council, and decisions are binding only for those states that have voted for them. Furthermore, the signing of an agreement on Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation on 13 April 1950 committed the signatories to coordination of military defence measures. In March 2015, the Arab League General Secretary announced the establishment of a Joint Arab Force with the aim of counteracting extremism, the decision was reached while Operation Decisive Storm was intensifying in Yemen. Participation in the project is voluntary, and the army intervenes only at the request of one of the member states. The growing militarization of the region and the increase in violent civil wars as well as terrorist movements are the reason behind the creation of the JAF, financed by the rich Gulf countries. In the early 1970s, the Economic Council of the League of Arab States put forward a proposal to create the Joint Arab Chambers of Commerce across the European states and that led, under the decree of the League of Arab States no. Following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945 and it aimed to be a regional organisation of Arab states with a focus to developing the economy, resolving disputes and coordinating political aims. Other countries later joined the league, each country was given one vote in the council. It was followed by the creation of a defence treaty two years later. A common market was established in 1965, the Arab League member states cover over 13,000,000 km2 and straddles two continents, Africa and Asia. The area largely consists of deserts, such as the Sahara. The area comprises deep forests in southern Arabia and parts of the worlds longest river, the Charter of the Arab League, also known as the Pact of the League of Arab States, is the founding treaty of the Arab League. Adopted in 1945, it stipulates that the League of Arab States shall be composed of the, starting with only six members in 1945, the Arab League now occupies an area spanning around 14 million km² and counts 22 members, and 4 observer states. The 22 members today include three of the largest African countries and the largest country in the Middle East, there was a continual increase in membership during the second half of the 20th century, with an additional 15 Arab states being admitted. Syria was suspended following the 2011 uprising, as of 2016, there are a total of 22 member states

23.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם‎, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian

24.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government

25.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks

26.
One-state solution
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The one-state solution and the similar binational solution are proposed approaches to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. While some advocate this solution for reasons, others feel simply that, due to the reality on the ground. Interest in a solution is growing, however, as the two-state approach fails to accomplish a final agreement. Although the terms One-State Solution and bi-national solution are used synonymously. The area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River was controlled by various groups throughout history. From 1516 until the conclusion of World War I, the region was controlled by the Ottoman Empire, from 1915 to 1916, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, corresponded by letters with Sayyid Hussein bin Ali, the father of Pan Arabism. These letters, were known as the Hussein–McMahon Correspondence. McMahon promised Hussein and his Arab followers the territory of the Ottoman Empire in exchange for assistance in driving out the Ottoman Turks, Hussein interpreted these letters as promising the region of Palestine to the Arabs. In 1916, Britain and France signed the Sykes–Picot Agreement, which divided the colonies of the Ottoman Empire between them, under this agreement, the region of Palestine would be controlled by Britain. In 1922, the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate for Palestine, disagreements over Jewish immigration as well as incitement by Haj Amin Al-Husseini led to an outbreak of Arab-Jewish violence in the Palestine Riots of 1920. Violence erupted again the year during the Jaffa Riots. In response to riots, Britain established the Haycraft Commission of Inquiry. The British Mandatory authorities put forward proposals for setting up a legislative council in Palestine. In 1924 the issue was raised at a conference held by Ahdut Haavodah at Ein Harod, shlomo Kaplansky, a veteran leader of Poalei Zion, argued that a Parliament, even with an Arab majority, was the way forward. David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the Yishuv, succeeded in getting Kaplanskys ideas rejected. Violence erupted again in the form of the 1929 Palestine riots, the 1929 Hebron massacre, after the violence, the British led another commission of inquiry under Sir Walter Shaw. Violence erupted again during the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, the British established the Peel Commission of 1936-1937 in order to put an end to the violence. The Peel Commission concluded that only partition could put an end to the violence, while the Jewish community accepted the concept of partition, not all members endorsed the implementation proposed by the Peel Commission

27.
Isratin
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Isratin, also known as the bi-national state, is a proposed unitary, federal or confederate Israeli-Palestinian state encompassing the present territory of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is precisely for such reason that such a scenario is regarded by the majority of Israelis and Palestinians as unthinkable. In a positive sense, while some advocate Isratin as a solution for ideological reasons, others feel that due to the reality on the ground. A bi-national solution enjoys the support of about a quarter of the Palestinian electorate, according to polls conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center. A multi-option poll by Near East Consulting in November 2007 found the state to be less popular than either two states for two people or a Palestinian state on all historic Palestine. Israeli opponents argue that one state would erode the notion of Israel as a Jewish state, the main obstacle is the fact that demographic trends show the likelihood of a near-term majority Arab population west of the Jordan River. A2000 poll soon after the outbreak of the second intifada found 18% of Israeli Jews supported a binational solution, in the early 1980s, the pro-settlements Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin, supported Palestinian autonomy under eventual Israeli sovereignty. The Labour Party supported territorial compromise with a Jordanian-Palestinian state under Hashemite rule, the abject defeat of Arab armies in 1967 led to an initial rejectionist attitude in some Arab circles. However, this position eased over time, ultimately leading to an almost dogmatic Palestinian acceptance of the notion of a solution which persisted until the rise of Hamas in the 2000s. The outcome of the 1973 Yom Kippur War prompted a fundamental political rethink among the Palestinian leadership and it was realised that Israels military strength and, crucially, its alliance with the United States made it unlikely that it could be defeated militarily. This would effectively have ended Israels Jewish majority and, by secularising the state, in short, a bi-national state on the PLOs terms would mean a very different kind of Israel or no Israel at all. This prospect was always opposed by all sides in Israeli politics. As early as 1973, the prospect of a state was being used by prominent figures on the Israel left to warn against holding on to the territories. For example, Histadrut Secretary General I, but, these agreements are rejected by various factions on the Palestinian side, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The Oslo Accords were never adopted and implemented by both sides. After the Second Intifada in 2000, many believe that the solution is increasingly losing its feasibility. Despite this, opposition to bi-nationalism was not absolute, some of those on the Israel right associated with the settler movement were willing to contemplate a bi-national state as long as it was established on Zionist terms. Originally, members of Menachem Begins Likud government in the late 1970s were willing to support the idea if it would ensure formal Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza

28.
Two-state solution
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The two-state solution refers to a solution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which calls for two states for two groups of people. The two-state solution envisages an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, the boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation, with Palestinian and Arab leadership insisting on the 1967 borders, which is not accepted by Israel. The territory of the former Mandate Palestine which shall not form part of the Palestinian State, the framework of the solution is set out in UN resolutions on the Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine, going back to 1974. The borders of the state of Palestine are based on the pre-1967 borders, the latest resolution in November 2013 was passed 165 to 6, with 6 abstentions. The countries voting against were Canada, Israel, the United States, the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, the Palestinians have shown serious interest in a two-state solution since the mid-1970s, and its mainstream leadership has embraced the concept since the 1982 Arab Summit in Fez. Over the years, polls have consistently shown respectable Israeli and Palestinian majorities in favor of a negotiated two-state settlement, there have been many diplomatic efforts to realize a two state solution, starting from the 1991 Madrid Conference. There followed the 1993 Oslo Accords and the failed 2000 Camp David Summit followed by the Taba negotiations in early 2001, in 2002, the Arab League proposed the Arab Peace Initiative. The latest initiative, which failed, was the 2013–14 peace talks. The recommended partition proposal was rejected by the Arab community of Palestine, Partition was again proposed by the 1947 UN Partition plan for the division of Palestine. It proposed a division, again with Jerusalem held separately. The partition plan was accepted by the Jewish leadership, however, the plan was rejected by the leadership of Arab nations and the Palestinian leadership, which opposed any partition of Palestine and any independent Jewish presence in the area. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War for control of the disputed land broke out on the end of the British Mandate, the war resulted in the fleeing or expulsion of 711,000 Palestinians, which the Palestinians call Nakba, from the territories which became the state of Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization, which had formed in 1964, strongly criticized the resolution. In September 1974,56 Member States proposed that the question of Palestine be included as an item in the General Assembly’s agenda and these rights have been affirmed every year since. The first indication that the PLO would be willing to accept a solution, on at least an interim basis, was articulated by Said Hammami in the mid-1970s. The idea has had overwhelming support in the UN General Assembly since the mid-1970s, the Partition Plan was invoked to provide legitimacy to Palestinian statehood. Subsequent clarifications were taken to amount to the first explicit Palestinian recognition of Israel, in 1975, the General Assembly established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The Security Council discussed the recommendations but failed to reach a decision due to the vote of the United States

29.
Allon Plan
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The plan was drafted by Israeli Minister Yigal Allon shortly after the Six-Day War in June 1967. The broad aim of the plan was to annex most of the Jordan Valley from the river to the slopes of the West Bank hill ridge, East Jerusalem. The Jordanian King Hussein rejected the plan, Allon died in 1980, and the following year the Israeli government passed the Golan Heights Law, effectively annexing most of the governorate. The Allon Plan was based on the doctrine that Israeli sovereignty over a part of the Israeli-occupied territories was necessary for Israels defense. On the other hand, Allon wanted Israel to return populated territories, the plan was designed to include as few Arabs as possible in the areas claimed for Israel. Yigal Allon presented the plan when he served as Minister of Labor under Mapai Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. According to the Allon Plan, Israel would annex most of the Jordan Valley, from the river to the slopes of the West Bank hill ridge, East Jerusalem. At the same time, the populated areas of the West Bank hill country, together with a corridor that included Jericho. The plan also included the creation of a Druze state in Syrias Quneitra Governorate, the majority of the Government, including Yigal Allon, favored the Palestinian option. Allon said that he was taking the maximum possibility, not a canton, not an autonomous region, but an independent Arab state agreed on between us and them in an enclave surrounded by Israeli territory – independent even in its foreign policy. In July 1967, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol stated that there was no choice in order to ensure Israels security needs but to continue to control the area as far as the Jordan River. But in order to avoid turning Israel into a bi-national state, a quasi-independent autonomous region was the first option. On 27 July 1967, Allon presented the first version of his based on the Palestinian option. The autonomous region consisted of two enclaves, separated by the Greater Jerusalem area, from Israel in the west to the Jordan Valley in the east. A vast majority of the rejected the plan when it was brought before the plenary session of the government on 30 July. At the beginning of 1968, Allon abandoned the Palestinian option, all the remainder would be handed over to King Hussein. Most of the members of the Government then backed the Allon Plan as the basis of the policy, from February to September 1968, Eshkol held secret talks with Palestinian leaders in the Occupied Territories without result. Parallel to the talks, secret conversations with Jordan started in London in May 1968, although the Allon Plan was never officially endorsed by the successive Israeli Cabinets, the peace plan Israel offered to King Hussein in September 1968 was based on it

30.
Arab Peace Initiative
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The Initiative was initially overshadowed by the Passover Massacre, a major terrorist attack that took place on March 27,2002, the day before the Initiative was published. The Israeli government under Ariel Sharon rejected the initiative as a non-starter, Sharon said the new plan could not be accepted because it would replace UN resolutions 242 and 338, which called for bilateral negotiations. After the renewed Arab League endorsement in 2007, then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a welcome to the plan. Therefore it doesnt have to agree to every word, the Palestinian Authority led by Yasser Arafat immediately embraced the initiative. His successor Mahmoud Abbas also supported the plan and officially asked U. S. President Barack Obama to adopt it as part of his Middle East policy. Islamist political party Hamas, the government of the Gaza Strip, is deeply divided. The peace initiative, according to Oxford Research Group, represents a break from this past. Like most peace plans since 1967, it is based on UN Security Council Resolution 242 and it followed the July 2000 Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David which ended in failure and the al-Aqsa Intifada beginning in September 2000. In fall 2002, the Bush administration strenuously tried to push a temporary cease-fire in the intifada to give breathing room for the Beirut summit, however, the presence of American negotiator Anthony Zinni in Israel led to a lull in the conflict for the two weeks before the summit. During this period, the administration hoped to draw away from the Iraq disarmament crisis that would later escalate into the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Some reporters were skeptical about the summits possibilities, robert Fisk explained the absence of Egypts Hosni Mubarak and Jordans King Abdullah as because they can smell a dead rat from quite a long way away. However, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Thomas Friedman met Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in February 2002, only ten of the twenty-two leaders invited to the March 27 Arab League summit in Beirut, Lebanon attended. The missing included Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Ariel Sharons government, despite American and European pressure, had told Arafat that he would not be allowed to return if he left for the summit. The lack of participation led Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Tim Palmer to label the summit emasculated, the Arab League members unanimously endorsed the peace initiative on March 27. It consists of a proposal to end the entire Arab–Israeli conflict. We believe in taking up arms in self-defence and to deter aggression, but we also believe in peace when it is based on justice and equity, and when it brings an end to conflict. Only within the context of peace can normal relations flourish between the people of the region and allow the region to pursue development rather than war. The initiative refers to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, which emphasizes the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel, in a compromise wording, it states that the League supports any negotiated settlement between Israel and Palestinians and does not mention the term right of return

31.
Geneva Initiative (2003)
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The document was finished on 12 October 2003. The Accord was prepared in secret for over 2 years before the 50-page document was launched on 1 December 2003, at a ceremony in Geneva. Both noted that the Geneva accord did not obligate either of their respective governments, the Initiative got broad international support, but was heavily criticised by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In September 2009, an expanded version of the plan was released. The annexes serve as a supplement to the Geneva Accord, outlining the practical measures required for implementation of the two-state solution. They cover key issues including security, border crossings, the Implementation and Verification Group, roads, water management, environmental concerns, the economy, and the division of Jerusalem. The Geneva Initiative addresses and presents a solution to all issues vital to ensuring the end of the conflict. It would give the Palestinians almost all of the West Bank, the plan has much similarity with the 2000 Camp David Summit and Taba Summit proposals, and Olmerts 2008 Napkin map. Only settlements along the Green Line would be annexed by Israel with mutual land swaps, including Maale Adumim, Pisgat Zeev, in the Geneva Initiative, Ariel would be dismantled and the Palestinians be given more sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Jerusalem would be divided administratively, with East Jerusalem serving as the capital of the Palestinian state, a Multinational Force would play an important role. The key concepts included in the Geneva Accord include, A mutual Israeli–Palestinian declaration of an end to the conflict, mutual recognition of both nations and their right to an independent state. Almost complete Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders, with a number of settlement blocs on the basis of a 1,1 land swap. A comprehensive solution to the issue of the Palestinian refugees based on the Clinton Parameters, of which the component will be compensation. Jewish Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and Arab Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital with Jewish areas under Israeli sovereignty, a non-militarized Palestinian state and detailed security arrangements. The proposal for the Palestinian refugee problem is modeled after UNGAR194, UNSC Resolution 242, and it outlines a compensation plan for recognition of “Refugeehood” and loss of property and a remuneration plan for states that have hosted Palestinian refugees. Israel will annex several areas currently densely populated by Jewish communities near the Green Line, in return for areas annexed by Israel from the West Bank, the Palestinians will receive territory of equal area and quality adjacent mostly to the Gaza Strip. The State of Israel will assume responsibility for resettling the Israelis living in what would be determined as Palestinian sovereign territory such as Ariel, the sharing of Jerusalem will be addressed along the Clinton Parameters. Jewish Jerusalem will serve as Israel’s capital and Arab Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital, each state would be sovereign over the neighborhoods predominately inhabited by its respective community

32.
Israeli Peace Initiative
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The Israeli Peace Initiative is a compromise plan given by the political left with Israel in response to the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002. It was released onApril 6,2011 and it compromises with the Palestinians in the effort to establish peace in Israel. One of the key differences from other plans is that the Israeli Peace Initiative proposes a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. It also calls for the establishment of the Temple Mount as neutral ground between Palestine and Israel, and the retention of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City within Israel. Additionally, the plan addresses Israels relations with its Arab neighbors, including settling the dispute over the Golan Heights. It was signed by roughly 40 people, while these are high up positions, many with security credentials, all 40 are considered to be affiliated with the political Left. The text refers to both Palestinian and Jewish refugees, though only discusses solutions for the former, the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries has been a big issue in Israel for decades, however, it has never been formally address in any negotiations. It talks of an Israeli withdrawal but does not say complete or full, in the manner in which UNSC Resolution 242 refers to a withdrawal from territories. This is important because it recognizes the fact that there will need to be some adjustments to the border, in this regard, IPI is slightly more specific, stating that land swaps must be on a 1,1 ratio and cannot exceed 7% of the West Bank. Recognition of Israel as a Jewish State and Palestine as a Palestinian State is required, in recent years, the Israeli government has been pushing the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel as a Jewish State, IPI makes this a requirement but forces Israel to do the same. An Arab minority is guaranteed full equal rights in Israel. Jerusalem is to be divided along Jewish-Arab lines, with Israel keeping the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, the Temple Mount is to be under no specific sovereignty or under Gods sovereignty. This idea was brought up during Oslo and Camp David, however, it doesnt address the fact that right now it is under Israeli sovereignty but Jordanian religious authority. The Islamic Holy Places are to be under a Muslim Waqf and it is currently under a Jordanian Waqf. The Right of Return can only be realized in a Palestinian State, only a symbolic number of refugees will be allowed into Israel. All elements in the region are to be consulted in order to solve the refugee problem, the authors use the word הגורמים which can mean both elements or responsible bodies/authorities. It discusses both Syria and Lebanon, believes that cooperation between all sides is vital to ensure that the Middle East enjoys economic prosperity, high environmental quality and a future of prosperity and welfare for all peoples. The Palestinian State will be demilitarized with full rights and responsibilities for internal security forces, the international community will play an active role in ensuring the security of the borders and in fighting terrorist threats

33.
Israeli disengagement from Gaza
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Four settlements in the northern West Bank were also evacuated. The disengagement was proposed in 2003 by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the Government in June 2004, approved by the Knesset in February 2005 and enacted in August 2005. The eviction of all residents, demolition of the residential buildings, the eviction and dismantlement of the four settlements in the northern West Bank was completed ten days later. A total of 8,000 Jewish settlers from all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip were relocated, the average settler received compensation of over U. S $200,000. Post-disengagement, Israel continued to control over the external perimeter of Gaza, including seaports, air space. In his book Sharon, The Life of a Leader, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharons son Gilad wrote that he gave his father the idea of the disengagement. Sharon suggested his disengagement plan for the first time on December 18,2003 at the Fourth Herzliya Conference. ″ It was at time that he began to use the word occupation. Effectively, this package called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda. And all this with authority and permission, all with a presidential blessing and the ratification of both houses of Congress. You know, the peace process is a bundle of concepts and commitments. The peace process is the establishment of a Palestinian state with all the security risks that entails, the peace process is the evacuation of settlements, its the return of refugees, its the partition of Jerusalem. And all that has now been frozen, what I effectively agreed to with the Americans was that part of the settlements would not be dealt with at all, and the rest will not be dealt with until the Palestinians turn into Finns. That is the significance of what we did, Sharon formally announced the plan in his April 14,2004 letter to U. S. President George W. Bush, stating that there exists no Palestinian partner with whom to advance peacefully toward a settlement. On June 6,2004, Sharons government approved an amended disengagement plan, on February 16,2005, the Knesset finalized and approved the plan. Failing to gain support from senior ministers, Sharon agreed that the Likud party would hold a referendum on the plan in advance of a vote by the Israeli Cabinet. Commentators and the described the rejection of the plan as a blow to Sharon. Sharon himself announced that he accepted the Likud referendum results and would take time to consider his steps and he ordered Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz to create an amended plan which Likud voters could accept. On June 6,2004, Sharons government approved an amended disengagement plan, following the approval of the plan, it was decided to close the Erez industrial zone and move its factories to cities and towns in Israel such as Ashkelon, Dimona, Yeruham, and Sderot

34.
Arab-Israeli peace projects
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Arab–Israeli peace projects are projects to promote peace and understanding between the Arab League and Israel in different spheres. These are part of an attempt at a peace process between Palestinians and Israelis. Sponsors of such projects can be both in Israel and Palestine. Israeli–Palestinian economic peace efforts are efforts to promote joint economic projects and efforts between Israelis and Palestinians as a pathway to reach peace between the two groups. This involves ongoing joint efforts by leaders to launch joint new industrial and economic projects, which will create new local businesses and job growth. It constitutes a co-existence project, as it is designed to foster efforts in the private sector, once governments provide the initial investment. In early 2010, President Shimon Peres took an active and personal role in efforts to promote local business initiatives, Peres personally led a tour of top Israeli executives through the West Bank, and told them about many new Palestinian businesses which show much growth potential. One company highlighted by Peres was the New Generation Technology incubator, One major idea is the creation of industrial parks where Israelis and Palestinians can work together. In 2011, according to Naftali Bennett, there were about 50 factories in the West Bank industrial region where Jews, Gilboa region Joint economic cooperation between Israeli officials in Gilboa and Palestinian officials in Jenin has begun to have major results and benefits. In October 2009, a new project got underway promoting tourism, major new business efforts and tourist attractions have been initiated in Jenin. The two regions are planning a joint industrial zone which would bridge the border, Palestinians would produce locally-made handicrafts and sell them through Gilboa to other regions of the world. Another possible project is a joint language center, where Israelis and Palestinians would teach each other Arabic and Hebrew, the Valley of Peace initiative is an effort to promote economic cooperation between Israel, Jordan and Palestinians. It was initially centered around efforts and joint projects in the Arava/Arabah Valley, the idea for this project began in 2005, when Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority asked the World Bank to analyze the feasibility of this idea. The Valley of Peace initiative began with a joint proposal in 2008 for a number of water-related initiatives, the study concluded in 2013, and an agreement was signed in 2013 by Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority to move ahead with the plan. In December 2015, Israel and Jordan formally released the plans to move ahead with this project. This process would produces about as much brine as a waste product and this would reinforce the status of the Dead Sea as an important economic resource to both nations, in multiple areas including tourism, industry and business. In May 2016, Israel and Jordan presented their plan for a Red Sea-Dead Sea canal to the World Bank, the Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce was founded in 2009. Its chairman is Eival Gilady, and its CEO is Ofir Gendelman and it has already held its first conference, at which Tony Blair was the keynote speaker

35.
Non-governmental organization
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A non-governmental organization is a not-for-profit organization that is independent from states and international governmental organizations. They are usually funded by donations but some avoid formal funding altogether and are run primarily by volunteers, NGOs are highly diverse groups of organizations engaged in a wide range of activities, and take different forms in different parts of the world. Some may have charitable status, while others may be registered for tax exemption based on recognition of social purposes, others may be fronts for political, religious, or other interests. The number of NGOs worldwide is estimated to be 3.7 million, India is estimated to have had around 2 million NGOs in 2009, just over one NGO per 600 Indians, and many times the number of primary schools and primary health centres in India. China is estimated to have approximately 440,000 officially registered NGOs, NGOs are difficult to define, and the term NGO is not always used consistently. In some countries the term NGO is applied to an organization that in another country would be called an NPO, there are many different classifications of NGO in use. The most common focus is on orientation and level of operation, an NGOs orientation refers to the type of activities it takes on. These activities might include human rights, environmental, improving health, an NGOs level of operation indicates the scale at which an organization works, such as local, regional, national, or international. The term non-governmental organization was first coined in 1945, when the United Nations was created, later the term became used more widely. One characteristic these diverse organizations share is that their non-profit status means they are not hindered by short-term financial objectives. Accordingly, they are able to devote themselves to issues which occur across longer time horizons, such as change, malaria prevention. Public surveys reveal that NGOs often enjoy a degree of public trust. NGO/GRO types can be understood by their orientation and level of how they operate, charitable orientation often involves a top-down paternalistic effort with little participation by the beneficiaries. It includes NGOs with activities directed toward meeting the needs of the poor people, in the classical community development project, participation begins with the need definition and continues into the planning and implementation stages. There is maximum involvement of the beneficiaries with NGOs acting as facilitators, community-based organizations arise out of peoples own initiatives. They can be responsible for raising the consciousness of the poor, helping them to understand their rights in accessing needed services. City-wide organizations include organizations such as chambers of commerce and industry, coalitions of business, ethnic or educational groups, national NGOs include national organizations such as the YMCAs/YWCAs, professional associations and similar groups. Some have state and city branches and assist local NGOs and they can be responsible for funding local NGOs, institutions and projects and implementing projects

Camp David Accords
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The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter, the second of these frameworks le

Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron
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It concerned the partial redeployment of Israeli military forces from Hebron in accordance with the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. According to the Protocol, Area H-1 would come under Palestinian control, a large Palestinian majority still lives in both Area H-1 and Area H-2. The redeployment started on 16 January 1997,

Wye River Memorandum
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The Wye River Memorandum was an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinian Authority at a summit in Wye River, Maryland, U. S. held from 15–23 October 1998. The Memorandum aimed to resume the implementation of the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and it was signed in the White House by Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat, throu

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left), US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Yasser Arafat at the Wye River Memorandum, 1998

2000 Camp David Summit
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The 2000 Camp David Summit was a summit meeting at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 and was an effort to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the summit ended without an agreement. U. S. Howe

Road map for peace
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The principles of the plan, originally drafted by U. S. A draft version from the Bush administration was published as early as 14 November 2002, the final text was released on 30 April 2003. The process reached an early in phase I and the plan was never implemented. The Second Intifada, which started in September 2000, showed an escalation of mutua

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Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, United States President George W. Bush, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after reading statement to the press during the closing moments of the Red Sea Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003.

Annapolis Conference
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The Annapolis Conference was a Middle East peace conference held on 27 November 2007, at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The conference aimed to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process and implement the Roadmap for peace, the conference ended with the issuing of a joint statement from all parties. After t

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For the revolutionary legislature of the Colony of Maryland, see Annapolis Convention (1774–1776). For the meeting that resulted in the United States Constitutional Convention, see Annapolis Convention (1786).

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George W. Bush addresses the participants at the pre-conference dinner on November 26

Borders of Israel
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Israels borders are the borders of the State of Israel. The borders have changed from time to time with developments in Israels military, the border with Egypt is the international border demarcated in 1906 between Britain and the Ottoman Empire. They are referred to as the 1923 Paulet-Newcombe Agreement borders, being those of Mandate Palestine, I

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The Blue Line covers the Lebanese–Israeli border; an extension covers the Lebanese–Golan Heights boundary.

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Borders of Israel

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Sites on the Golan in blue are Israeli settlements. Sites on the Golan in black are Syrian villages. Areas of the Golan occupied by Israel are light-coloured while those under Syrian control are grey.

Israeli settlement
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Such settlements within Palestinian territories currently exist in Area C of the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and within Syrian territory in the Golan Heights. Israel dismantled 18 settlements in the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, while in 2005 all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip were dismantled, but only four in the West Bank. In the West Bank, how

Homeland for the Jewish people
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A homeland for the Jewish people is an idea rooted in Jewish culture and religion. In the early 19th century, the Napoleonic Wars led to the idea of Jewish emancipation and this unleashed a number of religious and secular cultural streams and political philosophies among the Jews in Europe, covering everything from Marxism to Chassidism. Among thes

Palestinian political violence
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Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence or terror motivated by Palestinian nationalism. Periodically directed toward more limited goals such as the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the PLO officially renounced terrorism in 1988, and Fatah says it no longer engages in terrorism. The PFLP-GC has been internationally inact

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Armed Arab volunteers in 1947

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A Jewish bus equipped with wire screens to protect against rock, glass, and grenade throwing, late 1930s

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A demolished farmhouse in Tel Mond, Israel, after a fedayun attack.

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Charred remains of the bus hijacked and burnt by Palestinian militants in 1978 in the Coastal Road massacre

Palestinian right of return
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This view holds that those who opt not to return or for whom return is not feasible, should receive compensation in lieu. Opponents of the right of return hold that there is no basis for it in law. The number of Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war is estimated at between 700,000 and 800,000, and another 280,000 to 350,000 people were refugees of t

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This artwork is entitled Resolution 194, a UN resolution. The keys symbolize those kept as mementos by many Palestinians who left their homes in 1948. Such keys and the Handala are common Palestinian symbols of support for the right of return.

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Yemenite Jews en route from Aden to Israel

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1948 Palestinian exodus

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Protester with "Right of Return" poster, Washington, DC 2009

Positions on Jerusalem
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There is significant disagreement in the international community on the legal and diplomatic status of Jerusalem. Legal scholars disagree on how to resolve the dispute under international law, many United Nations member states formally adhere to the United Nations proposal that Jerusalem should have an international status. The chief dispute revolv

Zionist political violence
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Zionist political violence refers to acts of violence committed by Zionists. British soldiers and officials, United Nations personnel, Palestinian Arab fighters and civilians, domestic, commercial, and government property, infrastructure, and material have also been attacked. In 1935, the Irgun, a Zionist underground military organization, the Irgu

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Aftermath of the King David Hotel bombing, 1946

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Hannah Arendt, Jessurun Cardozo, Albert Einstein and others letter

Israeli West Bank barrier
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The Israeli West Bank barrier or wall is a separation barrier in the West Bank or along the Green Line. Barrier opponents claim it seeks to annex Palestinian land under the guise of security, in Hebrew, descriptions include, separation fence, separation wall and security fence. In Arabic, it is called wall of apartheid جدار الفصل العنصري, in Englis

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The barrier in Jerusalem, 2007

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The barrier between Abu Dis and East Jerusalem, June 2004

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Graffiti on the road to Bethlehem in the West Bank stating " Ich bin ein Berliner " (English: "I am a Berliner")

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Route 443 near Giv'at Ze'ev Junction, with pyramid-shaped stacks of barbed wire forming a section of the Israeli West Bank barrier

Israel Electric Corporation
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Israel Electric Corporation is the largest supplier of electrical power in Israel. The IEC builds, maintains, and operates power generation stations, sub-stations, the company is the sole integrated electric utility in the State of Israel. Its installed generating capacity represents about 75% of the electricity production capacity in the country.

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IEC Tower, company's headquarters

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Israel Electric Corporation

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The Israel Electric Company Ltd in the early 1920s

Quartet on the Middle East
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The Quartet are the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia. The group was established in Madrid in 2002, recalling Madrid Conference of 1991, tony Blair resigned as the Quartets Special Envoy on 27 May 2015. The initiative to establish the Quartet evolved following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in September 2000, in

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Offices of the Quartet in Jerusalem

United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the

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1943 sketch by Franklin Roosevelt of the United Nations' original three branches: The Four Policemen, an executive branch, and an international assembly of forty UN member states.

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Flag

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The Chilean delegation signing the UN Charter in San Francisco, 1945

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Dag Hammarskjöld was a particularly active Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in 1961.

United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean,

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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764

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Flag

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The signing of the Mayflower Compact, 1620.

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The Declaration of Independence: the Committee of Five presenting their draft to the Second Continental Congress in 1776

European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was es

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In 1989, the Iron Curtain fell, enabling the union to expand further (Berlin Wall pictured).

Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety

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Kievan Rus' in the 11th century

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Flag

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The Baptism of Kievans, by Klavdy Lebedev

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Sergius of Radonezh blessing Dmitry Donskoy in Trinity Sergius Lavra, before the Battle of Kulikovo, depicted in a painting by Ernst Lissner

Arab League
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The Arab League, formally the League of Arab States, is a regional organization of Arab countries in and around North Africa, the Horn of Africa and Arabia. It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members, Kingdom of Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945. Currently, the League ha

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Flag

Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Su

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The Giza Necropolis is the oldest of the ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.

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Flag

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The Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion at the Temple of Dendera.

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The 1803 Cedid Atlas, showing Ottoman Egypt.

United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border wi

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Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, was erected around 2500 BC.

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Flag

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The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.

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The Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.

France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territ

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One of the Lascaux paintings: a horse – Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC

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Flag

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The Maison Carrée was a temple of the Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the Roman Empire.

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With Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the Frankish monarchy, elective and secular until then, became hereditary and of divine right.

One-state solution
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The one-state solution and the similar binational solution are proposed approaches to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. While some advocate this solution for reasons, others feel simply that, due to the reality on the ground. Interest in a solution is growing, however, as the two-state approach fails to accomplish a final agreement. Altho

Isratin
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Isratin, also known as the bi-national state, is a proposed unitary, federal or confederate Israeli-Palestinian state encompassing the present territory of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is precisely for such reason that such a scenario is regarded by the majority of Israelis and Palestinians as unthinkable. In a positive sense, while

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Map of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in 2007. Finding mutually acceptable borders has posed a major difficulty for the two-state solution

Two-state solution
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The two-state solution refers to a solution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which calls for two states for two groups of people. The two-state solution envisages an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, the boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation, with Palestinian and Arab leadership i

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A peace movement poster: Israeli and Palestinian flags and the words peace in Arabic and Hebrew. Similar images have been used by several groups supporting a two-state solution to the conflict.

Allon Plan
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The plan was drafted by Israeli Minister Yigal Allon shortly after the Six-Day War in June 1967. The broad aim of the plan was to annex most of the Jordan Valley from the river to the slopes of the West Bank hill ridge, East Jerusalem. The Jordanian King Hussein rejected the plan, Allon died in 1980, and the following year the Israeli government pa

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The Allon Plan

Arab Peace Initiative
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The Initiative was initially overshadowed by the Passover Massacre, a major terrorist attack that took place on March 27,2002, the day before the Initiative was published. The Israeli government under Ariel Sharon rejected the initiative as a non-starter, Sharon said the new plan could not be accepted because it would replace UN resolutions 242 and

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Abdullah, along with other members of the Saudi royal family, was outspoken in his support for the plan.

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Despite his support for the plan, Israeli officials blamed Arafat for failing to stop the second Intifada 's violence during the summit.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the initiative, as have other members of his Likud party.

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Mahmoud Abbas said the initiative could create "a sea of peace that begins in Nouakchott and ends in Indonesia ".

Geneva Initiative (2003)
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The document was finished on 12 October 2003. The Accord was prepared in secret for over 2 years before the 50-page document was launched on 1 December 2003, at a ceremony in Geneva. Both noted that the Geneva accord did not obligate either of their respective governments, the Initiative got broad international support, but was heavily criticised b

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Demonstration in Tel Aviv supporting the Geneva Accord, 2004

Israeli Peace Initiative
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The Israeli Peace Initiative is a compromise plan given by the political left with Israel in response to the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002. It was released onApril 6,2011 and it compromises with the Palestinians in the effort to establish peace in Israel. One of the key differences from other plans is that the Israeli Peace Initiative proposes a co

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Israeli disengagement from Gaza
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Four settlements in the northern West Bank were also evacuated. The disengagement was proposed in 2003 by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the Government in June 2004, approved by the Knesset in February 2005 and enacted in August 2005. The eviction of all residents, demolition of the residential buildings, the eviction and dismantlement of

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Israeli-Palestinian coordination effort, 2005

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Residents protest against the evacuation of the Israeli community Kfar Darom. The sign reads: " Kfar Darom will not fall twice!". August 18, 2005

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A group of residents refuses to evacuate the Israeli settlement Bedolach. August 17, 2005

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Residents of Elei Sinai camping in Yad Mordechai, just over the border from their former homes.

Arab-Israeli peace projects
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Arab–Israeli peace projects are projects to promote peace and understanding between the Arab League and Israel in different spheres. These are part of an attempt at a peace process between Palestinians and Israelis. Sponsors of such projects can be both in Israel and Palestine. Israeli–Palestinian economic peace efforts are efforts to promote joint

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Sign in front of the Galil school, a joint Arab - Jewish primary school in Israel

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Teachers of Hand in Hand

Non-governmental organization
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A non-governmental organization is a not-for-profit organization that is independent from states and international governmental organizations. They are usually funded by donations but some avoid formal funding altogether and are run primarily by volunteers, NGOs are highly diverse groups of organizations engaged in a wide range of activities, and t

1.
The oil industry significantly impacts the entire region, both through the wealth that it generates and through the movement of labor. Most of the countries in the region have undertaken efforts to diversify their economies in recent years, however.

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A handshake between King Hussein I of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, accompanied by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, during the Israel–Jordan peace negotiations, October 26, 1994

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Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish and Hebrew, are the main languages spoken in the Middle East by over 400 million people; English and French are common supplementary languages.

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Beginning in 1821, the Greek War of Independence began as a rebellion by Greek nationalists against the ruling Ottoman Empire.

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The growth of a national identity was expressed in a variety of symbolic ways, including the adoption of a national flag. Pictured, a Scottish Union Flag in the 1704 edition of The Present State of the Universe.

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Nationalist and liberal pressure led to the European revolutions of 1848

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The Room of the United Nations General Assembly where Resolution was passed in 1949 which inspired the adoption of the Convention Regarding the Status of Stateless Persons in 1954 and the completion of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

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United Nations Headquarters, New York. Site of the completion of the Statelessness Reduction Convention in 1961